Updates!

I've been meaning to do an updates post for a while now, but today I've finally been able to find the time and motivation to do so!

Renae

• Will be 1 year old in just 3 more weeks!
• Can say Dada, Mama, hi, hello, and wow.
• Is obsessed with noses.
• Has taken several steps, but hasn't quite figured out how to walk independently just yet.
• Thinks Nicholas is THE funniest person in the world!
• Is quite the sassy little diva who knows exactly what she wants and will screech at you until you give it to her or you distract her with something else.
• Quirky medical story: Renae has a bad, bad habit of screaming until she literally passes out. It was scaring me enough to take her to see the doctor, who told me that while it isn't that common, it's not unheard of and is often hereditary (thanks a lot, Brandon!). Being anemic also exacerbates the condition (called breath holding spells). Guess what? Renae's also anemic! She's now on iron drops and has been doing much better and scares her mom and dad far less often now (she had been passing out up to 6 or so times a day!).

Nicholas

• Is such a boy! He has discovered how to pass gas...intentionally. It is so disgusting.
• Has a vocabulary that seems to be growing exponentially! His favorite phrase is "I can't reach!" and I just love hearing him say the word "yes" because it's so darn cute! Last night a friend of ours was over helping Brandon give me a blessing, and when he left, Nicholas must have heard Brandon say his name because he looked up just as Brandon was shutting the door and said, "bye, Dan!" It was really cute!
• Can now say his own prayers. Unfortunately, we don't understand much of what he says, but he usually includes all of us and his cousin Connor in his prayers, so we're okay with that.
• Scary medical story: A few weeks ago we were playing in the living room together. While we were playing, Nicholas climbed up on our recliner and was sitting on its arm. Somehow he managed to slip off of it and hit his head on the corner of a table on his way down. Initially we didn't think anything was wrong, but then we turned him around and saw a nice large bump on the back of his head growing before our eyes. It was really scary looking. As I was rushing Nicholas to the doctor, he kept saying, "I scared, Mommy." It made me want to cry! Fortunately everything checked out just fine, but the doctor said that the bump might not go down for about a month. He was correct because that happened at the end of July and three weeks later it is still there! Now if he starts climbing on things, I just remind him of his owie and that usually works to get him down.

Rebecca

• Is now 28! I had a fun birthday last week and was impressed that Brandon remembered it so well!
• Was able to go to the annual stamp convention with my mom, aunt, grandma, and my sister-in-law last Saturday. I'm not sure if the convention itself is what was so fun or just having a girls day out!
• Quirky/Scary medical story: I just had another kidney infection this past week. Tuesday night I woke up with sharp, stabbing pains in my back and a spiking fever that got up to 103 degrees. I was able to go to the doctor and get some medication and blood work done, but he wrote out an order for me to have get a kidney ultrasound, too. The back pain and fever continued for about 48 hours, but after a blessing from Brandon and our friend Dan, the fever and pains are gone. I'm still a little light headed and have a headache, but am feeling a lot better. The blood work and ultrasound results also came back as normal, thank goodness!

Brandon

• Quit his trucking/railroad job.
• Started his financial planning job. (Quite the jump, eh?)
• Went on his first business trip for this company to Des Moines, IA for a conference about leadership, which is one of his big passions. (His major is organizational leadership.) While in Des Moines, he was able to visit with his uncle and aunt, Tim and Debbie, which he really enjoyed being able to do.
• Medical update: is now pretty much entirely healed from his foot surgery! Brandon has been able to start jogging again for the first time in about 3 years without pain (other that the blisters from lousy running shoes)!

Other than some of the interesting medical issues we've had around here lately, we're doing great. We have a wonderful life together and truly feel blessed!